Monthly Meal Planning--Intro: the What and Why

Meal Planning (my definition): planning out meals in advance in order to save money and time at the store. It's that simple! It can seem overwhelming, for sure, but it can also save you thousands of dollars each year.

Meal planning has been a way of life for me since childhood. My dad is a pastor and my mom stayed home with us kids for much of my growing up years, therefore money was tight a lot of the time. My mom was constantly looking for ways to be frugal and save. I admire her so much for this, and she has taught me a lot about ways to save.

Our mom has taught us so much. This picture of my sister and I snapping beans with Mom is one of my favorites. 

One thing she did to help stay within a budget was meal planning. She would plan out the meals for a family of five for an entire month, and she would go grocery shopping just once a month. Isn't that amazing?! So this means once a month my mom would bust out her dry erase menu board, write down a meal for *almost* every day (Sundays were always what she calls "OYO" which stands for "On Your Own." ie; peanut butter and jelly!). From the menu board, she would make the grocery list, and from there she would load up all three kids and take us grocery shopping to Aldi, Sam's, and Walmart. It was quite an adventure for us and quite an undertaking for her, I'm sure!

My mom's meal planning ways have rubbed off on me, and I use them to stay within our budget each month. I'm so thankful for what she taught me--and now I've put my own spin on things.

This little series is designed to explain one way that you can use meal planning to cut down on how much you spend on food each month. According to the USDA's moderate cost plan, the average 2-person household spends $625 a month on groceries. My husband and I spend $300--now, we are not people who only eat organic, grass-fed, free range everything, but we do eat a ton of fresh produce, and very limited processed foods--I make things from scratch when I can. Fresh foods cost more, there's no way around that, but to us, it's worth it. We also intend to put up a lot of the produce we grow in our garden to use throughout the year.

The end goal of meal planning is saving money, but it also does a lot more than that. I grocery shop once a month, which takes several hours, but I don't find myself running to the store every week or even every day like a lot of folks do. It ultimately saves time. And let's face it, we can all use more time in our days! Additionally, I find that we eat much healthier when I have a plan for dinner. There's no need to run to a fast food restaurant, even on a busy day, when you know exactly what dinner is going to be! My crock pot is my best friend, that's for sure.

I have summarized my process for meal planning into four easy steps:

Step 1: The Recipes

Step 2: The Menu

Step 3: The List

Step 4: The Month

These steps are what I do for my husband and me, and please feel free to go about meal planning however you would like! Make it work for you and your family. But I hope this helps show you my process!

Join me as we get started!

grace & peace 

Mairin